Prevention of Vascular and Neural Dysfunction in Diabetic Rats by C-Peptide

Abstract

C-peptide, a cleavage product from the processing of proinsulin to insulin, has been considered to possess little if any biological activity other than its participation in insulin synthesis. Injection of human C-peptide prevented or attenuated vascular and neural (electrophysiological) dysfunction and impaired Na⁺- and K⁺-dependent adenosine triphosphate activity in tissues of diabetic rats. Nonpolar amino acids in the midportion of the peptide were required for these biological effects. Synthetic reverse sequence (retro) and all–d–amino acid (enantio) C-peptides were equipotent to native C-peptide, which indicates that the effects of C-peptide on diabetic vascular and neural dysfunction were mediated by nonchiral interactions instead of stereospecific receptors or binding sites.